12 year old robin leapt out of bed, this was his chance. He quickly got into his costume and put his police radio in his closet, being carful not to make any noise he went out of his window and flew excitedly into the night on his birdarang. AT GOTHAM WHARF Robin crouched down and hid behind a crate of fishing nets, just close enough to hear what the two crooks were saying, this will show batman I can handle things on my own. He thought happily as he listened to the two thugs. "the boss broke out tonight," one said "I'm not surprised, he seems to be a master at everything" "you got that right! I've never seen someone so sure of themselves when they're torturing some helpless person." "yah and the shank marks on his face are so badass! He's never told me how he got em though, story changes every time." uh oh robin thought nervously shank scars it was defiantly the joker. Not QUITE the first chance he was hoping for. "yah I don't know how he got those ether," the second henchman continued "what's he doing tonight?" "he told me he was going to take a hostage and hold him for ransom, you know something simple to get back into the game" "and I think I just found it!" robin's blood chilled, he knew who was behind him. His brain screamed for him to run but he was frozen and the maniacal clown grabbed him, pulling out his shank and testing it on the helpless boy's skin. "ah!" he cried out in pain as it sliced into his unprotected cheek. Then he stopped and laughed hysterically "so bat-brat,where's daddykins?" he grinned and robin swore if he smiled any wider his face would split in two "he's right here" the wonderfully familiar, and gruff voice spoke harshly as a batarang knocked the shank from the unsuspecting clown's hands. The two henchmen gaped and ran away in fear. "ah!" joker cackled "so batman, has come to save his little sidekick once again, aren't you getting tired of this game?" batman growled then looked at his ward "don't remind me and speaking of games joker why don't we stop this one and get on with this just you and me, the kid doesn't need to be involved." Batman spat the word "kid" like something disgusting. "oh I don't think so batsy," he said grabbing robin by his tunic front and pulling him closer. "you see, your little bird here is just too much fun to play with!" he laughed again and threw a bomb filled with laughing gas at batman but he was ready "robin don't breath!" he shouted then held his breath himself. quickly he grabbed a batarang and threw it, it clipped onto joker's coat and exploded knockout gas straight into his enemy's face. he was not messing around, not when it was his boy at stake. The villain dropped to the ground and was out cold. Batman pressed the communicator on his wrist and started talking."commissioner I have the joker under wraps at the wharf, have a couple men come and detoxify the air" robin breathed thorough the material of his cape and looked shamefully at batman. He looked really angry. Robin was torturing himself inside when batman finally spoke "I'm sending the bat-mobile for you,when you get home I want you to wait for me in your room. I have to get those two henchmen then I'll be home to deal with you. Do you understand?" robin winced at he words "deal with you" he knew what they meant and he felt horrible. He looked away and said miserably "yes sir" the bat-mobile arrived and batman growled "good, now go". The dark knight waited until the boy reluctantly got in the passengers side of the bat-mobile then took off into the night. By the time the bat-mobile had reached the cave robin was so miserable he felt like throwing up, but he didn't. He just went up to elevator into the house then passed Alfred, up the stairs to his room. Alfred could tell by the look on the boy's face that he was in trouble and sighed looking pityingly at him. "rough night master Dick?" Richard simply noddedthen headed up. When robin got to his room all he wanted to go was curl up into a little ball and forget this whole mess. Why did he go to the wharf without batman? Why hadn't he run when he saw the joker? And why hadn't he listened to batman last week when he said never to go out anywhere without him? These questions preyed on his mind unwilling to let him rest until batman came home. After a while the boy wonder heard a knock at the door and sat up, his heart was going a thousand miles an hour. "c-come in" he said, his voice cracking with fear. To his surprise it wasn't Bruce that came in, it was batman. Robin shuttered, this was going to be bad. "batman I..." he started but batman put up a hand "save it Robin, do you know how worried I was tonight? How scared I was that you were gone, not knowing if you'd even come back? If you were alive and breathing?" robin flinched, he had only ever made him this mad a few times before. He felt terrible for what he did, he wasn't thinking about how Bruce would be effected by this, he was only thinking of himself. And for this he was ashamed. "I'm sorry" he squeaked in a whisper, casting his eyes down so he could fight back the tears loosening themselves from the corner of his eyes. Batman softened a little and sighed "I know you are but it's my job as your guardian to make sure you learn from your mistakes so that there won't be a next time. Come here" and with that batman sat on the end of the bed and grabbed the boy around the middle and pulled him across his knees. Robin knew he was about to get a spanking, but a kid can hope cant he? The boy let his mentor and partner pull his close-fitting shorts and tights down and tuck his cape to the side so that only his bare bottom was exposed. Batman lightly rubbed the small of his back and prepared himself emotionally for what he had to do. After a few minutes he got started SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK Dick cried out in pain his tears well over the brink at this point, Bruce's hand was hard and flat and the leather gloves didn't help one bit. SMACK SMACK SMACK Bruce brought his hand down strongly, hitting his sit-spots in the same place over and over. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK his behind was on fire and he began to wail pathetically like a howling wolf. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK finally the vicious assault on his backside just became too painful and he couldn't stand it any more "I-I-I'm-m sorrryyy iimmm sorrryyy p-pleeaase stooopp!" he sobbed really hard. His bottom burned like acid, and nothing could help it, not even the still-open window. Bruce delivered one final SMACK then let the boy up. The sore 12 year old tried to pull up his tights but they just hurt too much, he felt helpless. Bruce got up and got a pair of sweat pants from the boy's dresser and handed in to his half naked ward. Robin took them gratefully and put them on, hissing when the material touched his now sensitive bottom. Bruce sat back down on the bed and pulled the tearstained boy onto his lap and held him. "I love you my little robin Im sorry I had to do that but I don't know what I would do with myself if I lost you." "I love you too batman," robin said sadly "I'm sorry I was so selfish I'll try harder next time." Bruce only smiled and held his son tightly. Tears streamed down robin's cheek stinging when they hit the cut. He winced and batman saw, he suddenly remembered that Joker had cut him. He scooped the boy into his arms and went into the bathroom. placing him on the edge of the sink, he took some dis-infectant and lightly rubbed it onto the small wound. Dick winced notably as he covered it with a bandaid then he started go to sleep. Batman saw how tired he was so he let him sit there until he fell asleep then put him into bed and closed the door. Batman went to the computers in the bat-cave. He hoped he would never do something like that again, Gotham was a dangerous place. It took a lot for him to let Robin be his partner and it would take even longer before he let him out on his own. If ever he did he was glad he put a tracking device in his suit, little did he know that he would need it a lot sooner than he thought. The little dot that represented Robin was moving again. Batman raced back up to Dick's room to find his bed empty yet again "Robin!" Robin felt kind of bad that he was disobeying Batman for the second time that night and that he would pay dearly if caught again but he didn't get his chance to prove himself so despite the pain in his backside he went out. Again. But this wasn't Joker this was just a simple robbery. He landed on a rooftop near the Gotham museum of art and waited. "you shouldn't have come little birdie!" robin spun around to see twoface, his eyes blazed like fire and he had a hideous grin spread across his deformed face. tossing his coin he stared hard at the young hero. "let's leave it up to chance shall we" the coin flipped up and Twoface laughed gleefully. but the coin was stopped mid air and knocked over the side of the building by a spinning Batarang. Robin gasped as he was picked up by the back of his cape, but it wasn't by twoface. It was batman. "ah batman, I wondered when I'd see you again" he said as Batman pushed his partner to the side and stepped out from behind the shadows. "come on Dent. you know you can't win" he said knowingly. Twoface backed up to a storage box and reached down behind it. "ah but you forget.." pulls out a .22 semiautomatic machine gun "i can..." points it at Batman "and.." Batman braces himself with a tight grip on his ice pellets ready to freeze to barrel. Twoface suddenly points it at Robin "i will" Batman knocks it to the side with a batarange mid shot causing the bullets to hit Robin in the knee. Dick screemed in pain and grabbed his knee. Bruce acted fast taking down that son of a bitch in under five seconds then scooped up his wayward ward who was still screeming his head off. waisting no time getting to the batcave he laid Dick on the table and took off his costume. disenfecting the tweezers and putting on a pair of gloves he pulled out both bullets which were dangerously close to the vital god they only nicked it. treating and washing the singed flesh he then stitched and wrapped the boy's leg up. Because Robin was passed out from pain he let the boy rest...but in the morning his punishment would be VERY unpleasent. Robin woke up the next morning in a state of panic when he saw he was on the medical table in the Batcave. he put his head in his hands and groaned. "boy did i screw up last night..." "i'd say." Robin looked up from his hands and froze. "B-bruce...i-" Batman put his hand up "save the excuses Richard." sitting on the medical table he removed his cowl. "come here." Robin sniffed but obeyed and layed himself over his gardian's lap...for the second time that week. he wimpered like an injured animal when Bruce pulled down his tights and briefs then tucked his cape to the side. "i am very dissapointed in you Richard." he said as he raised his hand. Robin sobbed, he hated dissapointing Bruce. then it happened. SMACK Bruce brought his palm down. hard. SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK SMACK his hand came back with a SMACK SMACK SMACK. "it's not over. that was a warm up" Bruce stopped and took out the hairbrish he hid in his cape. Robin's eyes bulged when he looked back and saw it. he began to beg "B-Bruce! please! not the brush bruce im sorry please!" Robin nearly jumped when Bruce tapped the brush to his behind. "im sorry Dick. you need to learn." and with that the brush slammed down SMACK setting ablaze the boy wonder's already sore, red backside. Dick cried out, his voice echoing off of the walls of the cave. SMACK "augghhh! B-Bruce..." SMACK "aaaahhhh" Dick was quick to cover his bottom he was in too much pain. But Bruce wouldn't have it. he pinned both of the boy's wrists to the small of his back then dipped his left leg. SMACK he targeted the more sesitive sit spots SMACK SMACK SMACK "Richard do you know why you are getting this spanking?" Robin cried and answered as quickly as he could "because i disobeyed you even after youpunnished me..." SMACK "that's right. and are you ever going to do that again?" Bruce brought the brush down SMACK "n-no sir...i'll never d-disob-bey you again j-just please stop i'm sowwy Daddyyy" Dick went limp and sobbed over his gardian's lap. SMACK Bruce hammered down one last smack then tossed the brush to the side. he let the sniviling mess on his lap cry as he rubbed comforting circles in his back. once Dick composed himself hegot up and tried to pull his tights back up. "aaaaahh!" he gasped at the pain and fresh tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. Bruce sighed and got down on one knee then wiped the tears from his eyes. "what am i gping to do with you?" the floodgates reopened and Dick threw himself around the other's neck. "i'm really sorry Bruce..." Bruce squeezed back hard but careful not to crush the boy. "i can't losw you Richard John Grayson, don't you ever scare me like that again." Dick sobbed into his favorite person's shoulder feeling terrible for worrying him so much. "i'm really sorry Bruce..i just wanted to prove that i could do things on my own...but i can't" Bruce hugged him tighter "it's okay...just don't do that again...promise me Richard..." Dick looked up at him tearfully "i promise Bruce." with that Bruce picked him up and carried him upstairs. Alfred had already made breakfast and lookedat the two of them frowning a little. "Master Dick you need a bath...and so do you Master Bruce go take them now i will not have dirty people eating in my kitchen" Dick and Bruce groaned and said at the same time "yes Alfred" and they both unthusiastically went upstairs to get clean. Bruce stuck his tongue out when they were halfway up. "I saw that Master Bruce!" he called after him. Bruce paled a little and asked "how?" "You forget Master Bruce, i see all." Alfred called back. Bruce grumbled and proceeded upstairs. Dick giggled he loved his home.